Tag Archives: Jamaica

Inter Miami CF Star Lionel Messi Making Trip to Jamaica for Team’s Upcoming Concacaf Champions Cup Match

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Lionel Messi is getting back in the game… 

Inter Miami CF head coach Javier Mascherano has confirmed that the 37-year-old Argentine soccer star will be traveling with the team to Jamaica to face Cavalier FC in the second leg of the Concacaf Champions Cup round-of-16 series on Thursday at Kingston’s Independence Park.

Lionel Messi Messi missed the previous three Miami matches due to what Mascherano described as load management.

“Leo Messi is on the roster and will travel with the team to Jamaica,” Mascherano told media on Wednesday. “Tomorrow we will decide for the game what is best, if he starts or waits on the bench and comes in later.

“Today he trained with the team, and the sensations were good. We’re happy he’ll travel with us to Jamaica.”

The team will travel Wednesday to follow Concacaf protocol and be in the location of the match 24 hours prior to kick off.

In an effort to avoid any future injuries, Mascherano failed to include Messi in the rosters for the matches against the Houston Dynamo and Cavalier FC before leaving him on the bench for the entirety of the game against Charlotte FC on Sunday.

The coach stressed on multiple occasions that Messi did not sustain an injury at the start of the season, but he simply chose to rest the player to minimize the risks after kicking off the 2025 campaign with three games in the span of seven days.

Inter Miami will now prepare to face Cavalier in the second leg with most of the roster available, seeing the return of defender Maxi Falcon after he missed out on the match against Charlotte due to a blow to the leg during Champions Cup action.

Miami enters Thursday’s game with a 2-0 lead over Cavalier after winning the first match at Chase Stadium last week. Mascherano stressed he isn’t taking anything for granted, though brushed off concerns about the conditions of the field in Jamaica’s capital

“We know that tomorrow we are going to play a tough game for us. It’s a game that is very important, not just for this week but for the season because we had the chance to through to quarterfinals,” said Mascherano.

“At the end, obviously we prefer if the field is good, better for us for the way that we play. But anyway, we have to play in the condition that the field is.”

Should Inter Miami complete the win in Jamaica, the team would face MLS opponent LAFC in the quarterfinals.

Catalina Usme Scores to Help Lead Colombia into First-Ever Women’s World Cup Quarterfinals

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Catalina Usme has helped her country make soccer history…

Colombia clinched a matchup with England in the quarterfinals of the Women’s World Cup on Saturday, thanks to a second-half goal by the 33-year-old Colombian footballer.

Catalina UsmeUsme, Colombia’s team captain scored in the 51st minute to give her side a 1-0 win over an underdog Jamaica team that had been one of the best stories of the tournament.

It’s Colombia’s first time advancing to the Women’s World Cup quarterfinals. In addition, Colombia is the first South American country to reach the last eight since Brazil in 2011.

Jamaica pushed forward for the final 40 minutes after Usme’s goal but wasn’t able to find an equalizer. The Jamaicans’ best chance came just a few minutes after Usme scored when Jody Brown hit the post with a header off a corner kick.

Drew Spence also came close in the final 10 minutes.

Colombia’s matchup with England will be one of the more fascinating quarterfinal games. The English women are the World Cup favorites and will not have Lauren James after her red card against Nigeria.

Colombia has won three of its four games at the World Cup and has been one of the best defensive teams at the tournament. The Colombians have allowed just one goal over their four games.

Jamaica’s tournament is over after they scored just one goal over four games but advanced to the knockout rounds on the heels of a stingy defense. A 1-0 win and two 0-0 ties in the group stage were good enough to get the Jamaicans into the Round of 16 before allowing their first goal of the tournament to Usme.

The Colombia women’s national football team has represented Colombia at the FIFA Women’s World Cup at three stagings of the tournament, in 2011, 2015 and 2023.